what i find most disturbing about these 2 fully-sponsored students, was that i couldn't get beyond one or two questions before they stumbled or were stumped.
they don't know what factors determine normal blood pressure.
or, the group of drugs used to treat hypertension.
and they don't know the blood supply to the liver.
in an oral examination, these are standard questions that start off the session. if students can't answer these, there's not much else to go on because these are important topics that all medical students & thereafter, housemen & medical officers are expected to know. if they don't know these, it just reveals a big gap in their knowledge of the basic sciences. mind you, these are topics taught in the 1st year & yet these 2nd-year students can't recall any of these. it's obvious they wasted their time here because they didn't learn anything new.
what happens, if by some stroke of "good fortune", they pass their final exams ∓
and we could be in deep sh*t.
P.S. i recently ranted about the housemen glut here.
32 comments:
yay i know the answers u asked them!!!
our poor bodies! sigh...
People definitely won't want under-qualified doctors to be treating them. Perhaps, something wrong with the the education system to be producing these sort of students?
our profs said we'll still fail even though we know level 2 or level 3 questions. cuz we dunno answers to level 1 quesions.
wat's the blood supply?~ Gosh~ FORGOT~!!!
Hey, give me your number. The next time I meet a medical officer who's about to see me, I'll get his or her name and text you to ask if you've heard of them. Then, cabut!
God bless their future students
BB
did i write patients or students? too many painkillers i am so drowsy hehe
bb
Do their sponsors know about their ' shallow intelligence ' ?
This is a sign that the next time on my visit to the doctor - to consult a very , very senior doc. All this while , the ones that attend to me are usually the fresh grads ;(
that's not surprising, given how memorising (and in turn, scoring) is more important than actually understanding what you've learnt! Analytical learning is also hugely lacking in our Asian education system, because everything is just so textbook-based. What to do? what to do?
Those, like you said, are very basic stuff! My goodness. I think these students also have the wrong attitude to study of medicine - they think it is like schooldays, what you learnt is just for passing the exam, and you can forget it after that year's exam and as you progress from year to year. In medicine, as in any profession, all that is learnt must be remembered, especially the foundational stuff!
Hey, even I know the answers to those questions! hahaha ....
Aiyoh, like that, might as well stay at home and die rather than pay to be 'killed'!
Mich,
good for you. these are really simple questions.
Claire,
poor bodies only if bad management.
MT,
you know the state of the education system these days!
Medie,
that's why basic sciences foundation must be strong before studying the details.
better read up the blood suppy because this is crucial information.
Yvonne,
you are such a regular client of our healthcare system, you should know your doctors by hard now!
Beng,
hope you get well soon!
UG,
of course the sponsors know - they are the main perpetrators.
or, should i say, traitors???
Jo,
send your kids overseas lorr...
;)
Seasongoer,
unfortunately, the back door is wide open, so the crowd rushes in.
Ilene,
how did you know the answers? does your firm handle medico-legal litigations?
Doc, I know many doctors by name but none as cool as you Doc who blogs and associates with 'common folks' like us!
About your reply to Ilene... lol! why would a firm that handle medico-legal suits know the answer. Unless some patient sue housemen for their bad judgement
Okay, seriously. Youth nowadays have more distractions. We don't or can't keep our minds focused on one thing for years anymore. Not like your generation, doc. There is a houseman who blogs. He writes Fantasy in his free time instead of gaining more knowledge or strengthening his foundation. I also know medical students who had their heads up on cloud nine while still studying. I also can't sustain my concentration very much. I'm tempted to check your blog for updates halfway through studying.
I hardly meet doctors. I hope I never need to, but as I said before, it will become unavoidable as we all grow older or chance upon food poisoning, accidents etc. And I am not medical-savvy enough to know whether the doctor is doing the right thing to my body! Let's hope these students buck up before their exam, or that they never pass their exams! Otherwise, we will all be in deep sh**t!!!
Doc, thanks for the earlier offer (on info/assistance on private doctors). Really appreciate it.
BTW Doc, what are your views on doctors who graduated from Eygpt?
Yvonne,
ha ha, you make me blush with your comments!!
the internet IS a huge distraction, isn't it?
one of my colleagues once was in the famed Karpal Singh's law office & he was astounded to find a volume of Harrison's Textbook of Medicine(a reknown reference textbook) on the shelf, amongst other medical books. this was over 20 years ago & it just shows how serious the lawyers take their medico-legal cases.
Hello Kitty,
by right, students who repeatedly fail their exams should not be allowed to continue their studies. that was done when i was in varsity. from an inital enrolment of 128 in year 1, only about 100 made it to graduation. that's 28 wasted places that should have been awarded to deserving students in the 1st place.
i've heard that the standard of students in some of the dubious foreign varsities is even worse than local ones but it can't be assumed that all who graduate from these foreign varsities are incompetent. there are always some good students there just as there are poor local students.
i have worked with trainee doctors who graduated from Al-Azhar & they are generally honest & hardworking but that's over 20 years ago.
BTW, my offer remains open.
in which case, i'll remember to flash your 3 questions at the officers-on-the-loose before any treatment the next time i have the misfortune to visit one, with the exception of when i'm lying on their surgical table bleeding to death. i'll probably make an exception then. i'll settle for not leaving any 'souveniers' inside of me :-p
Me,
i have another set of 3 questions if you're interested, just to be doubly sure!
regarding your experience on the surgical table, i take it that you meant "nearly bleeding to death"? if you didn't see any deep gashes on the table, then you're good to go - it just means the surgeon didn't simple plunge the knife thru you!
:P
hahaha DOC & Yvonne, you two are funny! My firm don't undertake medico cases. Don't have the manpower.
I know the answers simply because I'm a victim of hypertension and fatty liver and at each check-ups I'm given a earful of lectures (supported with diagrams) from my doc until the storage capacity of the thumb drive in my brain is almost full liow! Hopefully improved results will be reflected at my next check up then I can do a bit of defragment! :)
Ilene sounds like she has a dedicated and very concerned doctor looking after her.
Ilene,
medico-legal cases, eg. negligence, are really difficult to prove, unless the surgeon left some foreign material inside you!
if you have hypertension & fatty liver, by right your whole life should have been REFORMATTED!!
Yvonne,
only such a doc will give Ilene a earful - for her own good. let's hope the advice is heeded.
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